Sheriff Knezovich to Testify in Olympia Regarding Law Enforcement Integrity

Sheriff Knezovich is set to testify in front of the Washington State Senate Law and Justice Committee regarding his proposed amendment to Washington State law this Friday, February 15th at 8:00 a.m.

The proposed amendment in the Senate (SB 5668) summarizes if a peace officer, after a thorough investigation, has been found to have committed an illegal act or an act of dishonesty/untruthfulness while on-duty and has been terminated, an arbitrator, if he/she
finds due process was followed and the evidence shows the peace officer did commit the acts, cannot overturn the termination.

This proposed amendment is supported by all 39 elected Sheriffs of the State of Washington.

The Senate Bill (SB5668) is sponsored by Senators Padden and Baumgartner. This Senate bill also has a companion bill in the Washington State House of Representatives (HB1825) sponsored by Representatives Parker, Goodman, Hawkins, Kretz, Kagi, Fagan and Warnick.

Sheriff Knezovich wrote in a letter to the Legislators on January 17th, “This proposed legislation is not about eliminating the Due Process, the just case standard, nor the arbitration process concerning disciplinary matters.”

He later continued, “This proposed legislation is about integrity, the integrity of a profession. This legislation demands that law enforcement officers live up to the oaths they took to uphold the Constitution and, not only enforce but, obey the laws of our
County and State. It is about ensuring the trust between our citizens and their law enforcement professionals is never broken.”